“I don’t buy it,” the red-headed officer said.

Dominic shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t care,” he said before putting his arm around Ava.

She looked at him but didn’t say anything. Right now her mind was on something else. Gina. She couldn’t believe her friend was dead. Who would want to kill Gina? It just didn’t make sense. Had she been on this ship for over twenty-four hours with a killer and not even known it? And what about Dominic? He hadn’t been there when she woke up. Could he have been gone longer than she thought? Might he be the one who killed Gina? She didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to think that the man she’d allowed into her bed could be a killer or even worse, a killer set out to frame her.

As the two guards huddled together talking, Ava whispered, “Did you do it?” She looked at him waiting for an answer. He turned to face her and his eyes were hard again. Cold. He was angry, but she didn’t care. She had a right to know.

“After everything you still have to ask me that?”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means. After making love to you, after spending hours on end with you, do you think I would kill anyone you love or do anything to hurt you?”

“So after spending one magical night with me I’m supposed to believe you have no ulterior motives?”

Before Dominic could respond, the blond guard walked past them and headed towards the bedroom.

“Where’s he going?” Ava asked.

“To check your things. Make sure the murder weapon isn’t hidden anywhere. Although knowing you two, you probably threw it overboard.”

Ava’s fists clinched. Cursing under her breath she turned back to Dominic. He was watching her. His eyes searched her face, roving up and down. Trying to pretend he wasn’t unnerving her, she returned his gaze, waiting for him to speak. His hand caressed her face as his eyes grew soft.

“No. I did not kill your friend. I told you already what I wanted. I can’t have either of those things if you’re behind bars now can I?”

Ava swallowed. “I suppose not.”

“I don’t expect you to have one hundred percent faith in me, Ava. I realize I did deceive you, but regardless of whether you want to admit it out loud or not, there is something between us. Maybe you’re in denial because I’m Joseph’s son. That’s fine. I can wait. I’m not going anywhere.”

His hand dropped from her face and he turned his attention back to the guard still watching them. Ava sighed. She didn’t know what to think, but her antenna was up. Something was very wrong about all of this. How far was the ship out if the Coast Guard had jurisdiction to board? And who’d called in with a supposed tip about a murder? It all smelled of a setup to Ava and she wanted to know who was behind it. And poor Gina. The vivacious, fun-loving redhead was gone. She just couldn’t believe it. Didn’t want to.

In a world where many times to be a successful woman, you had to be a ball breaker, Gina had always managed to maintain her femininity and still get things done. It was one of the things Ava had admired about her. She was going to find out what happened to Gina and when she did, whoever was responsible for Gina’s death was going to pay. And that was a promise.

“Martelli’s room is clean.”

Ava turned to see the guard returning to the living room. There was a scowl on his face. She couldn’t resist the chance to needle him a bit.

“Looks like your theory is out the window then. Pity. That just gives me more ammo to sue you with.”

“Don’t think this is over. We’ll be docking in less than thirty minutes and you two are headed to the police station for a more formal interrogation.”

Ava stood up. “I’m not going anywhere but home to my daughter. You have no evidence that I committed a crime and I’m not going to the police station. Got it?”

“You need to sit down.”

Ava rolled her eyes, before turning on her heel and heading down the hallway to the bedroom.

“Come back here now,” one of the guards yelled.

Ava ignored them. She’d had enough. She may have changed her name but she was still a Martelli and she’d had more than enough of the attitudes of the armed men. Ava entered the room and found her clothes strewn everywhere. Footsteps pounded down the hallway behind her, but she ignored them. Opening her suitcase she quickly started stuffing her clothing and toiletries away. Once that was done, she pulled out her cellphone and called the one person she never thought she’d call.

“Angelo, it’s Ava. I’m in trouble.”

“What is it?”

“I’m being held by members of the Coast Guard for suspicion of murder. We’ll be docking in a few minutes. Can you please meet me?”

“Those bastards. Listen, don’t say another word. I’ll be right there.”

“Thank you.”

“I thought I told you to stay put.”

Ava whirled around. It was the redheaded guard. His blue eyes blazed.

“I don’t take orders from you and since you’re not going to shoot me, I suggest you buzz off and leave me be.”

“I ought to—”

“You ought to do your job and find out who killed my friend instead of harassing me because of who I used to be married to.”

Biting her lip in an effort to keep from slapping the man, she packed the rest of her items and went into the bathroom for one final check. She found her hairbrush and took a few moments to brush some of the tangles from her hair. It was a mess. Half curled and half straight. She brushed it straight as best as she could before moving back into the bedroom. The man was still standing there. Ava ignored him, zipping up her suitcase and retrieving her cellphone and purse before making her way back to the living room with her things.

She didn’t bother stopping. Instead Ava rolled her suitcase straight to the front door. Dominic and the other guard were already standing there. Taking a seat, she waited to be told that they were back at port. It came sooner than she expected.

“I just got the call that we’re docking. They want us to escort these two down,” the blond told her counterpart.

“Let’s go then. The sooner we can get these two off our hands the better. Let’s hope MDPD has better luck with them than we did.”

The men motioned with their guns towards the door. Ava grabbed the knob and turned. They didn’t have to tell her twice. She was ready to get away from both of them. Opening the door, Ava grabbed for her luggage, but Dominic was holding it for her. With a shrug she set off down the hallway towards the elevator. She pressed the button and held it. Finally the doors opened and she and Dominic entered the elevator, their “captors” right behind, guns pointed.

They were silent as the elevator took them down to the first floor. As soon as the doors opened, Ava was out. She headed through the ballroom and out the way she’d entered the ship just yesterday. When she made it to the dock, the confusion that greeted her was enough to make her head spin. Police cars were everywhere. There were news vans set up behind barriers. What had she just walked into? Ava started down the ramp when her arm was grabbed.

“Oh no you don’t. You’re heading downtown with us.”

She turned around, but before she could say anything she heard a familiar voice.

“I suggest you unhand her or the Coast Guard is going to be hit with the biggest lawsuit you’ve ever seen and by the time I’m done with you, you will be lucky if you can find work as a garbage man.”

Ava faced forward. “Angelo, how did you get here so fast?”

Her brother-in-law gifted her with a small smile. Next to him stood a white-haired older gentleman. He clutched a briefcase and a sheaf of papers in his hand.

“I don’t know who the hell you are, but I suggest you get out of our way. We have a job to do.”

With a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, Angelo took a step forward and wrenched the blond man’s hand from around Ava’s arm. The guard pointed his gun at Angelo, but he didn’t flinch. Instead he motioned for the man standing behind him. The sheaf of papers passed to his hand and he held them up in front of the guard’s face.